Stewart Parnell Sentenced To 28 Years For Selling Contaminated Peanuts That Killed 9

And now, the Peanut king, Stewart Parnell, will have to serve 28 years in prison. The ex-food executive had played a major role in the 2008-2009 salmonella outbreak, which led to the death of nine due to contaminated peanuts, according to The Associated Press.

The 61-year-old was represented by defense attorney Tom Bondurant. He opined that the 28-year term is like a "death sentence" for the earlier executive from the Peanut Corporation of America.

Relatives of those who had died clapped ecstatically when Parnell was given the sentence by U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands on Monday.

However, a number of his defendants supported him and told the judge that he should factor the point that he had had no intention to harm anyone, although he had been careless.

Still, prosecutors had argued that he "deserved life in prison". U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands said that would be "inappropriate," as Parnell's actions "were driven simply by the desire to profit and to protect profits ... This is commonly and accurately referred to as greed."

Parnell addressed the court Monday. "I want to apologize to all of our consumers," he said. "This has been a seven-year nightmare for me and my family. I'm truly, truly sorry for what's happened," he said.

His brother, Michael Parnell, has been sentenced to serve 20 years in prison.

An official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent explained that the outbreak had driven 700 people to sickness, even though it led to one of the biggest "food recalls in American history", according to HNGN.